


Fractured Moonlight

by The_Shy_One



Series: Take What the Water Gave Me [1]
Category: Spider-Gwen (Comics), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drowning, Explosions, Flirting, M/M, MerMay, One Shot, Rescue, Siren, Swearing, cheek kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24188455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shy_One/pseuds/The_Shy_One
Summary: As Frank is drowning in the Hudson River, he's rescued by a creature that he only thought was in the books his children read.
Relationships: Frank Castle/Matt Murdock
Series: Take What the Water Gave Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768021
Comments: 8
Kudos: 74





	Fractured Moonlight

He was thrown overboard when the explosion happened. He hit the water hard, knocking all the air out of him, rushing past him in bubbles as he sank underneath the surface of the dark and polluted water that quickly surrounded him. There was a loud ringing in his ears, disorienting him. As this was all happening to Frank, he could feel the coldness of the Hudson river settling underneath his clothing, gripping him as nothing else had in his life to this point.

As he fumbled, sinking further into the water, his clothing - both civilian and armoured - started to become heavy, weighing him down. Frank reached out for the surface, hoping that would give him a clue to which way he should swim, unsure of which side of the river was closest the more he stayed in the dark water. Opening his eyes to see proved fruitless as the pollution stung his eyes forcing him to close them. Frank felt his body start to shiver as this was all going on.

The shivers were small at first but began to escalate the more he stayed in the water. The lack of air became more pressing the more Frank sank into the river, drifting with the current that headed out to sea. He wasn’t one to panic, having been in similar situations back when he did his tours with the Marines.

Maybe it was just the lack of knowing which side of the river would be the shorter route to go - losing both his sight and sound the second he went through on the decision to let the boat explode with him on it - or the frigid temperature of the water that sank itself underneath his skin and into his bones that made the panic start to settle in his mind. It was worth getting rid of the criminals who were smuggling weapons in, but the lack of foresight on this section of the plan damped the success a bit. Frank didn’t have anything in mind for what to do and he was mentally kicking himself in the ass for not preparing as thoroughly.

As unconsciousness started to set in, Frank started to put up a fight, moving his arms and legs around. Maybe if he picked a direction, he might make it out. There have been worse odds for him, the bullet that launched into his brian - fragmentation as it entered, affecting both sides of his lobes according to the one doctor in that trial - and still pulled through and woke up months later.

This decision soon proved to be fruitless as he felt the water grow colder as he sank even deeper and Frank’s body started to shiver harder. His lungs started to burn, desperate for air. In a foolish move, Frank opened his mouth, swallowing water as he tried to pull air into his lungs. He gagged on the taste as it slipped into his mouth, rushing to fill it up as well as his lungs as he continued to swallow it like it was air.

As he struggled to get himself to stop swallowing water, feeling the polluted water started to fill his lungs, he finally met the bottom of the river. The sand, cold and shifting, made Frank decide that he would try to head to the surface. He finally had a direction to go and no time to waste in doing so.

Sluggishly moving through the water, he put his feet on the sandy bottom and used all the strength he had left to push himself up. Water rushed around him as he quickly went towards the surface. He had some hope that he would be quick enough. That he wouldn’t black out before reaching the surface.

This was dashed away as he felt his body sluggishly move, the boost from pushing up from the river bottom wearing off much quicker than anticipated. As Frank used his arms and legs to move upwards, unconsciousness settled in faster the longer he went without a breath of air. He would have stopped to take off the armour weighing him down enough to hinder his progress. But he knew that it would waste time in getting the air needed. Frank was tempted to open his mouth again, needing just one breath, just something to get his lungs to stop feeling like they would burst like a balloon.

But he knew better, the recent memory of the taste of the polluted river water and the way it sank to the bottom of his lungs when swallowing it in desperation reminding him to keep his mouth closed.

As Frank felt his limbs slowing, he opened his eyes to see if he was any closer to the surface. They stung, but he pushed through the minor pain, looking upwards. There were few lights due to being near the docks, but there were enough of them to see that they were small and far above his head. He was too far down to make it time before passing out.

And yet he continued to go up. He has had worse odds than this and he wasn’t known for giving up.

As the coldness turned to warmth - a sign of hyperthermia setting in - and his body slowed down, Frank felt something brush up against his side. A moment he paused, a moment that he shouldn’t have wasted despite knowing there shouldn’t be any fish in this part of the river. Everyone who lived in this part of the city knew that the pollution made it impossible to catch anything big or edible if someone were crazy enough to catch something out of this section.

Frank pushed for the surface once more. It was after another kick up that he felt something brush against his side again, firmer than the last brush. Frank didn’t pause, not even when he had the notion that whatever this creature was, it was larger than any fish should be. He felt it for the third time, definitely bigger than any fish Frank had ever caught when something hooked itself underneath his armpits and decided to pull him up.

While quicker than what Frank had been doing for the last thirty seconds, it wasn’t enough to combat unconsciousness that was desperate to take over his mind. As he felt the last of his consciousness slip away into the darkness, he took note of the fact that whatever was dragging him up moved against his back and legs, the shape of the creature was big and unidentifiable. Then darkness took over for a bit, leaving Frank to float in an area that he knew when he was in a coma after being shot in the head.

It was dark, nothing suspending him up other than his imagination, he supposed. There were muffled sounds that he couldn’t identify other than _“wake up!”_ in this sphere of darkness. Whether that was directed at him or something going on outside, Frank didn’t care all that much.

Soon he was dragged out of this state when his brain kicked started, his lungs getting its first taste of air. As he gasped for air, he felt the water rush back up, being forced to come out by his lungs. Frank moved his head and body to one side, letting it rush out of his mouth, coughing all the while. Even if he was already wet from the river, he knew from the training he did so many years ago that a person bringing back up the water after swallowing it into their lungs benefited from being put on their side so they wouldn’t choke on it.

The sounds of vomiting faintly reaching his ears through the low ringing. Several times he felt his lungs pushing the river water out causing him to cough and vomit for several long minutes. Even when his lungs stopped forcing the water out after a bit, his body made him continue dry heave, almost stuck on the motion and noise of this for a while longer. He curled his arms around himself, unsure of what else to do while stuck like this.

When his body calmed down, Frank laid on his side on the concrete, cold, wet and shivering. He noticed a street lamp nearby, providing him with enough light that made it easier to notice his surroundings. He was at the docks, further down than where the explosion occurred. There weren’t any workers in sight, all the containers sitting quiet, waiting for the next to be shipped off. The ringing in his ears had subsided, hearing faintly the sounds of emergency vehicles making their way towards the explosion he caused.

This observation lasted for a few seconds before feeling something big, wet and heavy wrap around his legs and pressed against his back. Frank stiffened up, feeling the warmth that came from whatever was costing up to him.

He startled when a hand pressed itself against his shoulder. Looking over his shoulder, he was greeted by a fish-like creature with a smug-looking smirk filled with sharp teeth and glazed blue eyes staring down at him.

“Wha-” He started, only for his voice to catch due to the abuse his throat had just suffered. Frank swallowed his spit, noting that it tasted like a washed down version of the polluted Hudson water.

It was awful all the same.

“What are you?” Frank finally pushed out, his throat still feeling raw.

There was a tilt to the creature’s head as they listened to Frank to speak. The wet hair was unusually short and bright red, moving along with the motion. There was still a smirk on their face as they spoke up.

“A siren, human.” The voice was silky, deeper than what he was expecting. It was filled with something else that he couldn’t identify, a touch of something that set Frank on edge, feeling as if he were suddenly prey. “Lucky to have been full of another human when I caught you floundering in my waters.”

He heard the chuckle from the siren as their hand squeezed his shoulder lightly before shifting him to sit on his ass. They pulled him up to a sitting position and curled around him, their chest pressing partially against his back. Placing their chin on his shoulder, Frank had to turn his head to see the siren still smirking - their eyes almost looking him in the face, the blue colour appearing darker with the way they tilted their head forward.

They almost looked as if they were content, like a huge cat that could decide to bite his face off on a whim.“Why in the river, human?”

“Got tossed overboard,” He answered truthfully. He didn’t trust the way their smirk grew wider and he certainly didn’t like the way the one webbed hand moved to cup his face.

“Did you cause the explosion earlier?” When he didn’t answer, they pressed further, holding his jaw tightly for a few moments. The pressure of this hold was more intense than any human could have done to Frank and nearly made him jerk it out of their hand. “It had to be you, your heart just skipped out of rhythm just now.”

“You can sense that, Red?” He says, giving the siren a nickname due to their hair. Their webbed hand let go of his jaw, moving to place itself at his hip, cupping the area like a lover would in a more intimate moment.

“I can sense that and more human. Your pheromones smell wonderful, has anyone told you that?”

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Frank said,” No, they haven’t.”

Another chuckle from the siren and they wrapped themselves even more around his body. Frank felt the way their tail moved, slipping between his legs while doing so, effectively trapping him. It felt weird, but he did nothing to stop it, sensing that it would cause a reaction involving a harsh bite to his neck.

“Then let me be the first to tell you so. Just absolutely heaven on the senses. You do realize how disgusting the river is, right?”

“Are all sirens like this or are you just special?”

“I’m special, human. Got far more range in my senses than any siren you’ll ever meet.”

“So just a pain in my ass then?”

Instead of a chuckle like he expected, Frank heard soft laughter. The vibrations of the low sound moved across his side and back, a sensation that wasn’t unwelcomed after everything that he went through tonight. Red pressed their face to his shoulder, almost like a cat headbutting someone's hand, letting Frank get a closer look at the creature.

Their hair was bright red and looked to be soft despite being wet, something that would be envious among humans. He took notice of the scales that crawled up into the hairline at the back of their neck. It was both dark red and black, shifting between the two colours depending on how the angle of the light coming from the street lamp hit them.

Hidden among the scales on their neck were gills, the outlines of them only noticeable at the start of breath and then at the end of it. They appeared to be closed, telling Frank that the siren was using a set of lungs that could bear taking in air.

Moving a hand, he reached to touch them, only to be stopped by a webbed hand. “It’s impolite to do that, human.”

“And you’re allowed to do this to me?” Frank asked. He moved his body closer to the siren, leaning into Red’s space to make a point. The smirk made an appearance, filled with glee that put him on edge once more. “A bit hypocritical, Red.”

“A privilege that only I have since I saved your life. You do know what that is right?”

“No,” He says, blunt and frankly tired of this whole interaction. “Never met a siren, so I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“Hmm, makes sense,” Red said, “Especially since you’re still here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Frank grumbles. He feels the webbed hand at his hip move over his stomach slowly, close to seduction from the way the creature skimmed their fingers over that area.

He also sees the way Red’s lips curled, almost as if they were thinking to bite his shoulder, maybe nibble if they were feeling particularly generous. “I’m not just any old siren, human. If I was, I wouldn’t be living in the Hudson.”

“Quite being cryptic, Red.” He says, frustrated at the circles that the siren was speaking in. “Tell me what the hell you mean.”

“And what would be the fun in that, Frank?”

“How did you know my name?” Frank demanded, glaring down at the siren.

There was the same smirk on their lips, their sightless blue eyes still looking towards him - the picture of smugness. Almost as if they were amused by Frank’s confusion and clueless demands more than how impolite he was being apparently. “I have my connections, Frank. Just make sure you don’t drown the next time you decide to explode a boat on my river. I might not be as generous.”

With more grace than a creature of the water should, Red moved to the edge of the dock, dragging their tail behind them. The way the tail moved from between his legs caused Frank to shudder, the feeling similarly weird as when Red placed their tail there. They did a kind of hop to land in the water, the sound of water being disturbed being heard. Frank as quickly as he could, moved to the edge of the concrete, looking down to see the flash of red hair pop out of the dark water.

There was still a smirk on their face as they looked up in Frank’s general direction, close enough for them to grab at the edge if they wanted to haul themselves back up. “Go home, Frank.”

“You can’t leave me hanging like this, fuck!” He yells, frustration bubbling over finally. “Give me something, Red!”

“My name isn’t Red, Frank,” They said, chuckling lightly.” It’s Matt.”

And before Frank could drag any more information out of the siren, they pulled themselves up to place a kiss on Frank’s cheek. There was a hint of sharp teeth, making Frank still for a few moments, his heart suddenly pounding at the thought that the siren might bite his face off.

Then they dipped back into the water, disappearing from view. Frank started at the spot, thoughts swirling around. Then as eloquently as he could manage in such a situation, he says,” Fuck.”

**Author's Note:**

> Did my first Mermay ever! I got this idea a few days ago and knew I had to write it. Hopefully, this was a fun read, especially with Siren!Murderdock lol. :D


End file.
